Customer Reviews

Louden Up Now

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

First of all, let's be frank: !!! are at their strongest performing live. We can be more specific, even: !!! are at their strongest performing live in a small, unconventional venue, where the barriers between audience and crowd can be broken down, and where Nic Offer - not exactly Wilson Pickett behind the mic - can come into his own as a cheerleader and orchestrator of the throng, instead of having to be 'just' the singer.

The first time I saw !!! was one of those near life-changing experiences. I danced for the first time in, oh, seven years - the first time since my wedding reception. For weeks afterwards I was proselytising like those acid house evangelists in 87/88. "You must see this band," I instructed everyone I knew. I listened to "Me and Giuliani ..." and the first album (on GSL) nearly constantly for ages.

And then, after a year of waiting, this album arrived. And goodness was I disapponted. It seemed to be a shapeless, formless mess of percussion. Where were the songs? Where were those fabulous 80s brass stabs? Where was the structure? After a couple of plays I put it aside for a few weeks. And then I returned. And you know what: the weather was warmer, everyone seemed happier, and the album seemed a whole lot better.

"Louden Up Now" isn't a record for listening to intently all the way through. Offer is a hopeless singer, and his lyrics are asinine. But the album is a groove: it's one for parties; it's one for cleaning the house to; it's one for playing in the car ; it's one for pretty well all of everyday life, without ever descending into background music.

Like one of the other reviewers, I do think it hangs together better than The Rapture's Echoes: it seems less contrived, more organic, unconcerned with touching all the stylistic bases. And while I think it will only make perfect sense to those who have seen the band - which has to be considered a weakness - I think anyone prepared to spend enough time with "Louden Up Now" will come to recognise its own strengths.

Next time though, chaps, a little bit less jamming and a little more in the way of songcraft. Please? I guarantee you more people will want to buy your records - and we know from "Giuliani" that you can do it.

!!!'s (or Chik Chik Chik's) "Louden Up Now" is a very odd dance album which somehow manages to be pretty good despite its strangeness. Most of the songs have hard-hitting beats and catchy instrumentation which should distract you from how weird the songs are. The singer does get a little out of control in a bad way sometimes (parts of "Hello? Is This Thing On?", but it's not annoying to the point of you hating the song). There are no bad songs here which helps in making the album appealing as a dance set. I'm not sure how to describe it musically - it's usually pretty complex and features random electronic blips, bloops and samples during some of the songs. You'll just have to hear it for yourself. If you're looking for a great and quirky dance album then this is a good one to pick up, even if it's definitely strange. Highly recommended!

Highlights include:
the entire album!

I must admit, I'm baffled by the many bad reviews of this album. I got it shortly after it came out and over a year later, it remains one of my favorites. This music just makes you feel good. If you ever loved gang of four... if you think that profanity makes a good aesthetic statement... if you want to hear one of the great dance numbers of all time (me and giuliani down by the schoolyard)... if you like to dance... if you want some funk in your politics...

get this album with no delay!

One of the best shows I saw this year was !!! at the Coachella Music Festival outside of Palm Springs back in May. Before the crowd even realized what was happening, several thousand of us were dancing as if Pan himself had spiked our bottled water.

Whether you call them 'Chk Chk Chk' or 'Guh Guh Guh' or any other monosyllabic word repeated three times in quick succession, the bottom line is: these boys know how to kick it!

Sure, nothing compares to seeing a band live, but you'll enjoy the energy and funk blasting out of your cd player when you pop in 'Louden Up Now'. 'Pardon My Freedom' is the stand out track for me and gets me moving, smiling and singing along. Oh, and for good measure, don't forget the 'Me and Guiliani Down at the School Yard (a true story)' EP for some more infectious grooves.

In this age of cooler-than-thou, walking dead hipsters frozen on the dance floor, !!! is a refreshing breath of air. Check your vanity at the door, because these boys will make you move like you've never moved before. It may not be pretty, but you'll sure feel good when it's over. Thank goodness for the repeat button.

Louden Up Now is the first, and perhaps the last, great record of the disco-punk revival. The Rapture's Echoes was anti-climatic let-down, an event that never was that signaled perhaps the end of the dance-punk resurgance. Listening to Louden Up Now, it's clear that !!! is easily the more talented of the two dance-punk monsters. The "Me & Guiliani" single might not have made waves to the extent that "House Of Jealous Lovers" did, but it was an opus of incredible preportions. The song twisted and turned through a loud mid-climax, humorous verses that attacked the up-tightness of former NYC mayor Rudolph Guiliani, and an incessant beat. !!! also had a lot more to add to the table than their dance-punk bretheren. With seven members, !!! sounds almost like an orchestra, adding horns, keyboards, electro-beats, and lots of extra percussion to the mix. It's this aspect of !!!'s sound that makes Louden Up Now so successful. Not only will you want to move your body for the album's entirety, but you will marvel at the impressive productiona and the layers and layers of sounds added in the mix. It's perhaps true that nothing approaches the level of "Me & Guiliani," but "Pardon My Freedom," "Dear Can," and "Hello? Is This Thing On?" make excellent cases. Best of all? No ballads (are you listening Rapture?). Louden Up Now may feel a little on the short side (do we really need an instrumental mix of "Sh** Scheisse Merde"?), but it's a keeper for being an instant party in a jewel case.

You have to see !!! live to truly understand what they're getting at with their albums. Granted, most bands CDs are enriched by a good touring reputation, but !!! inspired one of the most dance-crazy audiences I've ever seen at any show ever. They're also excellent musicians with a killer rhythm section and a gregarious, witty frontman. "Pardon My Freedom" is a good song on this record, but live--something else entirely.

And they are too funky! Loosen up, uptight one-star-review guy. This music is supposed to be for fun.

I find it interesting that the negative reviews for this album are from people who had some sort of prior expection as to what it is supposed to be. The complaints are that it's not disco-punk enough, that it's for self-satisfied hipsters, that it's for wannabes, that it's not political enough, that it's not as good as the live show, and, of course, that nothing on it lives up to "Me and Giuliani".

I only discovered this album this year, for some reason, and I really dig it. By managing to avoid the hype at the time of its release, and never having heard "Me and Giuliani" (or even knowing it was an older single), I had the luxury of being able to listen to "Louden Up Now" without any preconceptions. It's great.

Unlike many of the complainers who find this music derivative, I find this album to be quite original. Sure, it sounds like lots of other bands (Clash, Ween, New Order, Cop Shoot Cop, Shriekback, Twitch-era Ministry come to mind) thrown in a blender, but it has its own unmistakable personality. Louden Up Now is rhythm piled on rhythm, sounds piled on sounds, industrial-like production, a dose of playful bad attitude, all tied to a stiff-yet-funky bass which holds everything together.

But to enjoy this album, you gotta see the genius in a couplet like "Tell the President to s* my f*ing d*. Does that sound intelligent? Like I give a f*ing frick." And you've gotta love the spastic sax bleat in "Dear Can" against its mechanical, broken-march rhythm. This stuff makes me move! But it's also well composed music, sonically involved music that you can simply listen to and enjoy (provided you don't require a lot of melody and harmony in your tunes).

As for "Me and Giuliani", I don't think it's really that different, better or worse than anything else on the album. However, I notice it has hints of melody and harmony that don't appear elsewhere, and it doesn't have the same near-distorted drums that much of the rest of the album has, making its overall sound more dancey and perhaps appealing for those with less tolerance for noise. But I prefer the aggression of "Pardon My Freedom". If the end of that song doesn't make your blood pump faster, well, then this might not be for you.

So forget about who it's supposed to be for, what genre it's supposed to fit into, who it's been influenced by, put it on, obey the album title's directive, and start moving. It's really good.

Completely overhyped, but still, a great woozey floor filler of a record (for the most part).

This album, along with many of the other songs I've heard by !!!, is amazing. It is flawless, and to the point. I've been listening to !!! for a while, and this is their best releast yet.

Going from songs like "King's Weed" to "Hello, Is This Thing On?", the album gets better as you listen.

Reccomended to everyone.

Ok, I do agree with some of the criticism of this album: yes, the lyrics are inane, yes, some beats can be repetitive, and yes, !!! is not wholly original (what band is?) But, Louden Up Now is a highly satisfying listen. I first got hooked w/ the "Giuliani" EP like a lot of other folks, but I am not disappointed at all w/ this release. !!! has created its own genre of alternative rock dance music. Each song is organic, layered, and instrumentally diverse, evoking nostalgia for disco, punk, and new wave bands of the 70s and 80s. (Note: I have never seen !!! live, and I still can't stop listening to this CD!!!!!)